Light and shadows

Here’s a great primary school resource from BBC schools about light and shadows – it’s a game you can play in groups or as a class.

Before you play the game try out all or some of these introductory activities

  • Brainstorm a list of things that ‘give out light’. (List everything learners suggest, even if they are technically wrong e.g. the moon – this will be important when they review and evaluate their learning at the end of the lesson.)
  • Give learners a range of light sources to investigate  – e.g. different shape torches, a camping lantern, a candle, a reading light, matches etc. You can provide pictures of those that can’t be brought into the classroom e.g. the sun, streetlights, car headlights etc.
  • Let children draw some of them, either on the whiteboard or using a drawing programme. For each item, ask the children if they know what they are for, who might use them and how.
  • Question learners: How are they different? How are they the same? How bright/dull? Do they give off heat?
  • Provide some 3D shapes like a ball, a cylinder, a cube and let them use the torches to look at the different shadows produced by shining a torch on them. Do different objects produce different shadows? Do the shadows move when they move the torch? You could
  • Ask pupils to place the object in the middle of a large piece of paper and to draw the shadows as they move the torch around the object.
  • Create some day or night pictures using drawing software on the computer.
  • Ask the children to collect pictures of light sources and to bring them into school. Use the pictures to create a class Glog.

Full lesson plan available 

This post is also available in: Dutch, Romanian, Welsh

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